‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Begins Testing Actors for Lead Role

All systems are go! Marvel and director James Gunn are beginning tests for the lead role in 'Guardians of the Galaxy,' and we're pretty excited about a few names on that list.

Deadline reports that Marvel has begun making test deals for the lead in James Gunn's 'Guardians of the Galaxy' film. For those unaware, a test deal is where an actor is asked to sign a contract stating that he or she won't accept any other deals in a short span of time following the initial test (typically around a week or so). For 'Guardians,' this seems to indicate that Marvel is pretty serious about the actors they want to test.

Any one of these guys could be a great lead for the new Marvel flick, but we're particularly interested in how offbeat some of these choices are. While Edgerton's muscle and more conventionally hunky appearance make him an obvious choice, guys like Huston, Sturgess, Pace, and Redmayne are not what you'd typically think of when casting a Marvel hero, especially when you think of Chris Evans' 'Captain America' or Chris Hemsworth's 'Thor.' Then again, Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo have made for great heroes on the Marvel team and they're sort of offbeat as well. And if those test deals expire after ten days, we should know who are lead is shortly.